Thursday, October 12, 2017

Fall precipitation ends fire season for lands protected by Oregon Department of Forestry

As of 12:01 am, October 14, 2017, the
Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF) has terminated fire season for forestlands
protected by the Northeast Oregon District.
This includes private, state, county, municipal and tribal lands
protected by Oregon Department of Forestry.
The Northeast Oregon District includes lands in the following
counties: Union, Baker, Umatilla,
Wallowa and small portions of Grant, Morrow and Malheur counties. The current weather pattern has provided
enough moisture to significantly reduce the fire danger. Matt
Hoehna, Unit Forester, Pendleton Unit encourages people to remain vigilant. “We’ve
gotten some moisture and it has reduced our fire danger, but the condition of
the light fuels, grasses and light brush, can change quickly with wind or sunny
days. When you are burning debris or
slash piles remember to follow smoke management forecasts. If weather conditions become warm and dry, we
ask that landowners check the piles that they previously burned for remaining
heat that could cause problems. We often
find ourselves fighting escaped burns in October and November.”

With the termination of fire season,
requirements for obtaining a burn permit for residential yard debris burning
are no longer in effect. Terminating fire season does not relieve landowners or
forest operators of lawful responsibilities concerning the safe burning of
debris or slash.

Specific
Smoke Management/Burning Advisory Information:

·If you are under the protection of a rural or
city fire department, please call and ask what their burning restrictions
are. Burn permits for burn barrels or
small amounts of yard debris are not required on lands protected by the Oregon
Department of Forestry. In addition,
burning within the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation
requires a permit from CTUIR. Follow all
requirements within the permit.

·Burning slash from forestry and logging
activities requires a Notification of Operation/PDM from ODF. In addition to this permit, the local ODF office
must be contacted prior to ignition.
Before burning in northeast Oregon, it is important to check weather
conditions relative to smoke management.
For smoke management forecasts call (541)963-9781 or visit the following
website:

·Slash burns must be registered with
the local ODF office at least 7 days prior to burning and burning
accomplishments after 7 days.

The Northeast Oregon
District of the Oregon Department of Forestry would like to thank all of our
landowners, forest operators and the public for their efforts in fire
prevention, detection and suppression activities this season. In 2017, Northeast Oregon District
experienced a lower number of fire starts and acres burned than the 10-year
average.

For further information, call your local
ODF office:

La Grande Unit (541)963-3168

Baker City Sub-Unit (541)523-5831

Wallowa Unit (541)886-2881

Pendleton Unit (541)276-3491

To report a fire, call the Blue Mountain
Interagency Dispatch Center at (541)963-7171, or dial 9-1-1.